Stay Close, Don't Go
by Melody123
Summary: Gojyo has a future without hope, in fact no future at all. Until he meets a special boy and his guardian. AU one-shot, minor swearing and non-yaoi.


A/N: Hi guys! I'm so happy to be back, especially with a 53 fic! Ahhhh finally. I have to thank my gorgeous betas Yuhazaki and DarkSilence101. They gave me the confidence to come back *heart* you guys.

Ok this fic was a bit different to what I normally write, if any old readers are reading. Please enjoy, and excuse the OOC-ness. It's an AU- I'm allowed to play around…

**Stay Close, Don't Go**

* * *

_Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.  
_  
"Mr Sha. One more scan and we are finished."

The stretcher slides down.

The noise hits me, pounding into my brain. _Thunk. Thunk. Thunk_. Drumming a sombre rhythm into my skull.

I stare up at the curved surface 30 centimetres above me. Watch the line painted down the middle move as the thunking stops and the stretcher slides out. My eyes narrow as I adjust to the bright light out of the tunnel of the MRI. There is a pneumatic _hiss_ as the sealed door is opened. The nurse removes the blanket covering my legs, and I feel my skin prick.

"Mr Sha, please don't move yet. Let me remove the neck brace and the headphones, then sit up slowly"

The world turns black and intense pain behind my eyes tells me I sat up too fast. I must have gone pale, as the nurse rushes over and braces me against her arm.

"I said slowly, Mr Sha."

I slump over against her strong shoulder. This is becoming too much.

I don't know what the worst thing is - that my lover died, that I have an inoperable brain tumour or that simply I am alone. Alone, without my lover of 11 years, Hakkai here to tell me it's ok.

Hakkai died on the 23rd of November last year. He was in a bank when 5 masked gunmen rushed in and demanded money from the vault. They lined up the civilians and cashiers and when the manager tried to stall for time, one gunman shot the first 5 dead. Hakkai was number 3. He died from a headshot which left a 5 centimetre exit wound in the back of his skull. He did not suffer; it was over in an instant. An instant.  
That's all it took to wreck my life. Hakkai and I were 26. The gunmen escaped with only $10 000 from the vault. It had been a slow morning.

So now I am here. I have had innumerable tests and scans. Chemotherapy and radiotherapy. It's all the same to me. All this hospital can offer hasn't helped. The tumour has gotten larger. But apparently if I remain positive, anything can happen. Bullshit.

"Are you ok Mr Sha?"

Her voice breaks me out of my private hell. I realise I have been crying, and my tears have soaked her shoulder.

"I'm sorry. Thankyou, I'm fine now" I sit up, and angrily swipe my tears off my face.

A year ago I would have been happily flirting with her. Hakkai never minded; he knew me too well to be jealous. I have always been a flirt and before I met Hakkai, I would take a different girl home each night. They were fascinated by my long crimson coloured hair. Of course, that is gone now.

The nurse takes my arm, and gently lifts me up off the stretcher. I am so weak now. I am now only a shadow of my once proud physique. I have always been tall and wiry, but I spent countless hours at the gym working on my muscles. They have now wasted away; I'm thin and gaunt. I look like I'm dying. Which, in all reality, I am.

"You're free to go now, if you are ok. Just put the gown in the tub in your change room."

So I begin the long shuffle back out of the sealed chamber out into the dressing area. I slowly dress back into my trackies and t-shirt. Five months ago I wouldn't have been caught dead in trackpants. I was always a tight-jeans-and-leather-jacket man. Opening the change room door, the back of my hand catches my eye. I have always been naturally deeply tanned, but the skin on my hand is grey and the veins stick out in sharp relief. I just wish I had been bowled over by a bus or something, anything rather than this slow death. It's almost like I can feel the life being drained out of me day by day.

I walk slowly out into the corridor leading to the main lobby. A slight wobble in my step causes me to reach out and brace myself on the wall. I feel lightheaded but I continue on my way towards the Emergency Department; my taxi should be waiting there to pick me up. The general noise levels increase from the practically silent radiology and imaging wing as I get closer to the Emergency Department. People chattering, babies whimpering and children wailing, the everyday sounds of life. A life seemingly going on without me.

I have seen many people waiting in the Emergency Department; varying ages, races and personalities. There is always some poor child wailing because they have stuck something in their nose or ears, an anxious relative fidgeting whilst waiting for news on a loved one, and people with broken _insert-body-part-here_. But as I am shuffling through the crowded room, a flurry of activity catches my eye. A gurney being rolled in with a boy around the age of 16 lying on it. He is grey with pain, and by the look of the bone sticking through the skin on his right shin, he has all right to be. A man follows behind the medics, a man with pure blonde hair like sunshine. As I stand and watch them rush past, he turns bright violet eyes on me.

I quickly glance away. And continue on my way.

* * *

And so I return for the next battery of test two days later. This time it's chemotherapy. I know the routine. I make my way up to Ward 4, the cancer ward, and greet my favourite nurse. The one who doesn't spout 'positivity' bullshit, but always has a kind word to say to me. I lie down on a bed, and she hooks me up; another needle into my hand. Then I'm pretty much left alone. I stay like this for most of the day. My iPod is my saviour, preventing me thinking too much about what is happening. But there are sometimes other patients in the Ward. Mostly other people who are susceptible to infections or on immunosuppressant drugs of varying sorts. As I glance around my ward I see the golden-haired man standing by a bed opposite me. The boy with that nasty broken leg is lying on the bed, apparently asleep. _What is he doing here?_

The man has noticed that I am looking. He glances back at the boy on the bed, who begins to whimper in his sleep. _Poor thing, he's probably in pain._

"Try rolling him onto his left side" I say quietly to the man. He glances up at me, surprised. But then he looks back down at the whimpering child.

The man puts his hands carefully, gently on the boy and rolls him over onto his left side. He brings his right hand up to tenderly stoke the sleeping boy on the cheek.

He straightens back up.

"How did you know?" his voice is deep and smooth but quiet.

"I see a lot. The nurses always arrange a sleeping patient so the injured part is higher than the heart. Your boy broke his right leg, so put him on the left. Reduces blood flow, which helps reduce pain." I am surprised he asks.

"Hmmm. Thanks. His name is Goku by the way"

"Ah. Sha Gojyo" I hold my hand out to shake.

The man smiles a tiny smile. He walks over to my bed and takes my offered hand.

"Genjyo Sanzo."

* * *

This course of chemo makes me sicker than ever before. I am so sick that the doctors decide I have to stay in hospital. They think my liver is failing. About time; maybe I'll get out of this mess.

So I get to watch the other patients, while the machines I'm hooked up to essentially do my bodies' job for it. I smile as Goku sits up and complains to the nurse that there isn't enough food for lunch. She smiles but shakes her head. I chuck him my sandwich when she isn't looking. He grins at me.

That kid seems so alive. I fall asleep watching him demolish the sandwich.

When I wake up a few hours later, he sees me and waves. I wave carefully back, not wanting to dislodge my attachments. He's out of bed, in this wheelchair thing, and he rolls over to my bedside.

"Hey there! I just wanted to say thanks for the sandwich. They don't feed us enough! My name's Goku."

I laugh. "Kid, its fine. No worries. I'm Gojyo"

"You been here long? Hey didn't I see you in the Emergency Department a few days ago?"

"Yeah. I've gotten a bit worse since a few days ago" I trail off. "So what did you do to your leg, kid? I saw that big-ass chunk of bone sticking out of it on your way in!" I grin at him.

"I was playing soccer. A big guy went for the ball, and fell on top of my leg. I don't remember much else from the field to here. I had to have surgery to fix the bone, but the bone got infected. So I got sent here. What happened to you?"

I sigh. "Shit happened kid, shit happened. I've got a tumour." I don't want to tell this kid I'm going to die from this cancer. I'm not going to let him feel sorry for me.

"So kid, where's your dad?"

"Oh Sanzo? He's not my dad. He's my guardian."

"Oh sorry." I wonder if I had touched on a forbidden topic.

"No he's at work. He is a graphic designer. Actually he should be coming in any minute now"

Speak of the devil. Sanzo silently walks up behind Goku, and places his hands on the boy's shoulders.

"I'm here. You're up. You were asleep when I left this morning." He speaks quietly, but somehow I can hear him well.

"Yeah I feel better now. I was talking to Gojyo. He gave me a sandwich!" Goku grins at me.

"Oh right. We'll stop annoying Gojyo now, Goku" he motions Goku to move away.

"No! It's fine, please stay. Lovely to talk to someone" Sanzo stares piercingly at me. But then his eyes soften.

* * *

It took Goku's leg two months to recover. Today he is allowed to go home. I don't want him to go. That kid gives me hope.

"Gojyo! Sanzo is here! He brought meat buns… "

"Lucky you kid." I ruffle his hair.

"Hey! Stop that!" He tries to duck away from my hand.

"What this?!" I ruffle his hair again and he swats my hand away. We end up laughing. I don't think I have laughed this much since 'Kai died.

But suddenly Goku stops laughing.

"Gojyo, I don't want to leave you here all alone. You'll be sad again" He says quietly.

"Hey, I'll be fine kid. Don't worry about me" I smile at him, but I know he's right.

"Goku, time to go." Sanzo strides over, and places a hand on Goku's shoulder.

"Come visit us Gojyo. When you can. Please?" Goku looks puppy-eyes at me.

"Sure Goku. I would love to" I mean it.

"You're welcome anytime Gojyo" Sanzo looks me directly in the eye.

"Thanks Sanzo. It means a lot" I hold my arms out for a hug from Goku. Sanzo offers his hand to me, and I clasp it.

* * *

_Epilogue_

"Mr Sha, the results of your MRI from two days ago are back. It's fantastic news! The tumour appears to have shrunk significantly…."

I smile and think of Sanzo and Goku.


End file.
